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Promoting London to the world

Maintaining London's position as the destination of choice for business, investors, visitors and students

Key achievements and highlights:

  • Helping to bring 178 new businesses from over 20 countries to London, creating or safeguarding nearly 4000 jobs through Think London (2008/2009)

  • Promoting London at the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, delivering over 50 inward investment leads, generating £3.9m media ROI in 42 countries (2008)

  • Supporting the 'Only in London' campaign which generated an economic benefit to London in excess of £95 million (2008/2009)

  • Attracting and assisting major film productions through Film London which contributed £123 million to the London economy (2009/2010)

  • Worked to ensure that the future promotion of London will be carried out through a single agency, London & Partners launched on 1st April 2011 (2010/2011)

London & Partners

On 1 April 2011, the Mayor of London launched London & Partners. It is the Mayor’s flagship agency to showcase London as the best city to visit, invest and study in.

It combines the functions of Visit London, Think London and Study London, agencies previously supported by the LDA's International Promotion Programme.

A world-class city

Bus by St Paul's Cathedral

London is a celebrated destination for businesses, students and visitors from all over the world. It has a reputation as a vibrant city with world-class arts and culture, business facilities, education, sports, events and entertainment. With its diverse mix of people and cultures, it has something for everyone.

London currently welcomes around 25 million visitors, creates over 6,000 jobs through inward investment and attacts 105,000 international students every year. In an ever more competitive global economy, and with London gearing up to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, it has never been more important to promote the capital. In terms for leisure, business tourism, foreign direct investment and business growth as well as attracting major events, conferences, meetings and overseas students.

A leading business centre

London is globally recognised as a leading destination for business, and our primary objective is to maintain this position. It has an open, fair business regime, and great connectivity – English is widely used as the global business language and London is in a time zone that lets people do business with both eastern and western hemispheres on the same day.

Tourist hotspot

London offers tourists culture, heritage, entertainment, sport and parks, and attracts more international visitors than any other city in the world.

The education destination

London is home to more than 90,000 international students from over 200 different nations, more than any other city in the world. With over 30,000 accredited courses on offer at some of the UK’s leading universities and colleges, London offers students a world-class education in a world-class city.

Broad skills base

Other strengths include London’s broad and strong skills base, with a global talent pool that makes the city a centre for high value-added businesses and services, including creative media, advertising, new media and branding.

2012 Games

The 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will provide a lasting tourism legacy, and these improvements will also improve the quality of life for London residents and businesses.

Investment in London

Historically the LDA worked with partners such as Think London and UK Trade & Investment to provide inward investments from around the world with the intellegence and support required to establish a presence in London. The LDA has helped to support efforts to promote London in specific emerging markets, particulary China and India; and to showcase London's offer by taking advantage of significant cultural and sporting events such as the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Shanghai Expo 2010.

The LDA has also worked to help businesses deliver across the whole visitor journey, including advice on how to improve environmental performance, quality standards, accessibility, marketing, skills and contingency planning.

Historically using the Local Area Tourism Impact Model the LDA produced reports estimating the levels of visitor expenditure and visitor numbers across London. These reports have provided timely market intellegence and helped to target invest ot promote local tourism.

The LDA has worked with the British Fashion Council to maintain London's position as an iconic centre for emerging designer talent, creating and retaining sustainable fashion businesses in London. London Fashion Week's contribution to UK fashion exports and the health of the UK designer industry generates an estimated £100 million per annum of global sales orders.

The LDA has supported London's tourism industry through the delivery of the Mayor's London Tourism Action Plan 2009–13,  to deliver quality visitor information services, improve the visitor welcome for all and marketing and promote London as a world-class city